Hanging By A Moment
by EilayAdnayVolieay
Summary: Chase has liked Zoey since her first day at PCA. But when she tells him that she can't trust him if he can't trust her, he's torn not knowing what to do. Tell her how he feels, and risk their friendship, or never tell her and risk their friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I've finally decided to start another Zoey 101 fanfiction. I once had one, called Forever Confused or Forever Naive? And it was about Chase and Zoey and basically what I thought happened after the play. I discontinued the story but now that I have seen most of the second series I am starting a new story, taking place after two-part episode of when the gang were on a show for March Break at Logan's house and it aired at PCA. Keep in mind that I missed the second part of the two part episode, except the very end when Chase is about to tell Zoey but they get interrupted.

**Credits to:** Nickelodeon since they created the show, firstly. Lifehouse for their song called "Hanging by a Moment" which is one of my favourite songs and because the song just... somehow fits, I mean it suits it in my mind and I love the song. Music is a big part of my life, basically, my all time favourite things in life are friends, family, music and writing. Anyways, for those unfamiliar with the song, I'll type part of the lyrics that stick with me...

I'm desperate for changing

I'm starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started

Of chasing after you

I'm falling even more inlove with you

Letting go of all I've held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

Just hanging by a moment here with you...

The song is great and if you haven't heard it, I suggest you do anything to hear it at least once.

**Full Summary:** Takes place after the second part of the episode where Logan's dad tells them they are going to be on his new TV show and Chase takes Zoey's Tekmate. Chase has liked Zoey since he met her, but she's always thought he liked her as a friend and nothing more. After stealing Zoey's Tekmate to delete a text message he accidentally sent to her saying his feelings, he's torn between what to do. Tell her what the message said, and risk their friendship, or don't tell her what it said and risk their friendship.

**Disclaimer:** Zoey 101 isn't mine. If it was, well who knows where the story would have gone. This fanfiction should be enough to support that.

**Hanging By A Moment**

_EilayAdnayVolieay_

Chapter One: Zoey's Tekmate

After the airing of the TV show was over, Michael walked over to Chase.

"So, did you tell Zoey yet?" he asked. Chase looked over at Zoey, and sighed.

"Well... yes and no. I started to, after she told me that she really, really wanted to know. But you guys came and dragged us in here, and I never got to. But... I sent her a text message on her Tekmate. And... I told her. She hasn't looked at it yet, but she will." Chase replied. He glanced over at Zoey again before leaving the room and heading for his dorm. He didn't want to be around when she read that message. It was the last thing in the world that he wanted, because then he'd see her read it, see her reaction, and watch as his friendship with her slowly crumbled until it was nothing but a mere memory. If he stayed away from her, he could avoid it, and pretend.

"Wow that was so great, wasn't it great? It was SO great," Nicole replied. Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Yeah Nicole, it was great. Have you seen my Tekmate?" Zoey asked, looking around.

"Did you ask Chase?" Nicole joked. She saw the look on Zoey's face and looked down. "Okay, its too soon for that..." she replied, more to herself than anyone. "No, I haven't. Hey maybe you left it outside!" Nicole suggested.

"Well... maybe," Zoey admitted. She hoped she hadn't, but it was a good idea to retrace her steps. They walked outside and Zoey saw her Tekmate floating in water, completely ruined.

"Its completely ruined," Nicole replied.

"Thanks, Nicole, I hadn't noticed." Zoey replied dryly. She saw Quinn nearby and called her over.

"Quinn! Hey, Quinn! Do you think you'd be able to... fix my Tekmate? It fell in the water, but..."

"I think I might be able to, but it would take time and it will erase everything that's on it now. You'll have to re-submit all your information on it, but I can get it running again. I better get started on that, first, with the drying process, and after that—"

"Quinn, we don't need to know how. Just... do it, please?" Zoey asked. Quinn nodded and carefully grabbed the Tekmate with prongs she apparently kept in her pocket at all times.

"So did you find out why Chase took your Tekmate?" Nicole asked.

"Yeah... he was trying to continue this conversation with Michael, and he sent the message. Only, it got sent to me. Whatever it was, he didn't want me to read it, and he deleted it. That was why he took it." Zoey replied. She sat down and Nicole followed suit.

"Oh... so you never learned what it said?" Nicole asked. Zoey shook her head. "But what could be so bad that he didn't want you to read it? Unless— no _way!_" Nicole shouted. She jumped up. "I gotta go Zoey, sorry, I'll talk to you later, lets meet at Sushi Rox or something," Zoey leaned back against a tree and sighed.

"What could Chase possibly have to say that he wouldn't want me to hear? I mean... I'm his best friend. Well, one of them." Zoey said quietly to herself. She got up and decided to look for Chase. It was time for him to tell her what that message said.

—

"You sent her a _text_ message? Dude that is so lame," Logan replied. "I mean, she obviously will be head over heels inlove with me like the rest of the female student body, but still... a _text message?"_ Logan asked. He laughed and tossed a ball at the small net on the wall.

"Maybe it's the way of the future to confess your feelings through a text message," Michael replied, trying to be helpful but only receiving a glare from Chase. "Just trying to help..."

"Oh, like how you tried to help when you kept texting me telling me to tell Zoey? If you hadn't started up with that through the Tekmate, I never would have replied to it because it wouldn't exist, and then I never would have accidentally send it to Zoey and have to delete the message before she saw!" Chase replied. Logan got up and sat directly in front of Chase, smirking.

"I think you did it on purpose." Logan replied. Chase looked at him.

"Are you crazy! Why would I?" Chase asked. Logan shrugged.

"You got tired of Zoey not knowing. This way, you could pretend to be shocked that she got the message instead, and she'd end up knowing how you feel." Logan replied. "But then, you got chicken. You decided to back out at the last minute, and then, deleted the text message so she'd never read it."

"There's something wrong with your story, though Logan. Why wouldn't Chase have just sent her a text message telling her how he felt?" Michael asked.

"Simple. So Zoey would think it was _'sooo cute!'_ that Chase was worried about wrecking their friendship, and he'd have a better chance at her liking him." Logan replied. Chase glared at him.

"Well, actually, that makes sense... Chase...?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Chase shouted. Michael put his hands in the air.

"Okay man, its alright it was just a suggestion..." Michael replied. Chase stood up.

"Yeah, I know. I'm... I'm going for a walk. See you guys later," Chase said, closing the door to his room behind him. He just got outside of the boys dorm when he almost ran into Zoey. He hoped she wouldn't say anything and just keep walking, but unfortunately for him, he was the one Zoey was looking for in the first place.

"Chase, there you are! I've been looking all over for you, you left so quickly earlier..." Zoey started to walk with Chase and he knew then that there was no getting rid of her, at least not easily. He felt horrible for wanting to get rid of her, but he wanted to avoid talking with her now that he had sent the message to her telling her how he felt. He hadn't checked his Tekmate in awhile, so he couldn't be 100 sure she even read it.

"Yeah, I wasn't feeling well so I uh, went and lied down," Chase lied.

"Oh. Well, I was wondering if you... Chase, I— do you trust me?" Zoey asked. Chase looked at her, confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you trust me," Zoey asked again. Chase nodded.

"Of course, Zoey you're my friend, why wouldn't I trust you?" Chase asked.

"If you trust me, shouldn't you... why can't you tell me what the message said, and trust that I won't get mad at you over it?" Zoey asked. She waved to a girl who called her name and kept walking. Chase remained silent, so Zoey asked again.

"I... it's complicated, Zoey. Wait— didn't you get my text message? I sent you one earlier, telling you what the message said. Don't check it now though," Chase added quickly. "I'd rather be... well, not... next to you."

"Chase, I can't read any of my messages! My Tekmate got knocked over in the water, I haven't been able to read any messages. And I won't be able to. Quinn's going to try and fix it, but there's no guarantee and even if she does I won't get my messages from before back. It will be... well, reset. If you could tell me through a text message, can't you tell me in person?" Zoey asked. Chase remained silent. _Why does she have to make this so... difficult?_ He thought to himself.

"I told you, its complicated. Its not like its something I without a doubt _don't_ want you to know, its something that... is hard to say. I mean, picture this: you have your first ever crush, you don't really know the person and you want to ask them out. Wouldn't that be hard to say? Its one of those things that you just can't say easily without... hesitation."

"This is _more_ than hesitation Chase, this is a literal beat-around-the-bush until she forgets kind of thing. If you can't trust me, maybe... maybe I can't trust you." Zoey replied finally, walking away.

"Zoey, wait! I... I will tell you! Just... not now," Chase added quietly. Either way, he had a basic losing situation. If he didn't tell Zoey how he felt, he risked ruining their friendship because she would think he didn't trust her when that was far from the case. If he DID tell her, he risked ruining their friendship by making it horribly awkward and making it so their friendship would never be the same, and so she'd wonder if he said certain things as a friend, or as someone who liked her. He just had to figure out which had the better upside to it.

—

Nicole saw Chase, calling after Zoey but she paid no attention to that. She ran up to him.

"Chase! Wait a second," Nicole called. Chase stopped walking, still staring after where Zoey had went. "I need to ask you something," she added when she reached him. Chase had a bad feeling that he knew she was going to ask him something involving the Tekmate, and he didn't want to even talk about it now. Since they had gotten them, although they were extremely cool, Chase had had nothing but problems with it.

"Such as?" Chase asked tiredly.

"Do you like Zoey?" Nicole asked. Chase looked at her, surprised. There was a question he wasn't expecting... particularly from Nicole who usually came off as the denser one out of the three girls.

"I... I..." Chase stuttered. Part of him wanted to tell Nicole, because she was Zoey's friend and might have a better idea of what he could do. But then another part of him didn't want to... after all, this was Nicole, Zoey's dense best friend. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said finally. Nicole sighed.

"Chase... I won't tell Zoey either way," Nicole replied. Chase started to walk away, wanting to leave behind the conversation with Zoey and try and get away from Nicole who was close to finding out his feelings for Zoey.

"It doesn't matter whether I do or not. She's mad at me and unless I tell her what the text message said... I have to go, I'm sorry." Chase replied, frustrated. He was confused, angry, sad, and tired, all at once. It was crazy the way he felt. Nicole nodded.

"Oh, okay... if you don't, I think you should just try and tell her what the message said anyways. If you do... you have more than the message problem on your hands. I'm supposed to meet Zoey and Lola at Sushi Rox so... bye," Nicole walked away and Chase went his own way as well back to the boys dorm.

—

The days passed, and Zoey was true to her word. She was practically ignoring Chase, but whenever she had to talk to him, it was very brief. She hated putting their friendship on the line, but what good were friends if they couldn't trust her? Besides, if Chase so badly didn't want to tell her, maybe he had said something extremely rude about her. How could she know for sure, unless he told her? She hoped he would tell her soon, because already she was missing one of her best friends.

"Come on Zoey, lets go get some sushi," Lola suggested. Zoey shook her head.

"No, I don't feel like it... you guys can though. I think I'm just going to hang out here today," Zoey concluded. Nicole sat beside her.

"Zoey, I didn't want to get involved because its none of my business... even though you ARE my best friend... but what's going on between you and Chase? One minute, you're fine with the fact that he took your Tekmate, and the next, you just..."

"Its not the fact that he took my Tekmate anymore, Nicole. It's the fact that he doesn't think he can trust me with what the message said, and friends aren't friends if you don't trust them. If he can't trust me, I can't be his friend. It's as simple as that," Zoey replied dully.

"But Zoey, its only this one thing that he's kept from you, not trusted you with. Sometimes, don't you have to trust that the other friend is doing the right thing?" Lola asked. Zoey stared at her feet.

"Well..."

"Chase may have just shared a guy story with Michael, and you know how guys freak out if girls are around. Remember when they didn't want us on their roof? Because "guys couldn't be guys" if girls were around? Maybe Chase told Michael some dumb macho story you wouldn't want to know anyways." Lola added. Zoey didn't say anything, but lied down on her bed and turned over so they couldn't see her face. Lola sighed. "Come on Nicole, let's just go. Zoey's being a _drag,"_ Lola added louder for Zoey's benefit. She grabbed a pillow and threw it in their direction, but the door closed. It was only her now.

—

Zoey awoke an hour later to knocking on her door. She didn't see Lola or Nicole's key to the room lying around, so she didn't know who it could be. She got up, yawned, and opened the door.

"Hi, Zoey." Michael replied. Zoey seemed a little disappointed... was she hoping that it was Chase, Michael wondered?

"Hey Michael, sorry I just woke up a little while ago, I'm still kind of asleep. So... what are you doing here?" Zoey asked.

"I came to talk to you about Chase." Michael stated. Zoey sat down.

"Oh. So how do you think you did on that pop quiz we had today?" Zoey asked, changing the subject.

"I know what you're doing, and it won't work. I'm here to talk about Chase, and I won't leave until I've said what I have to say. It would be easier for you to just let me say it and then kick me out of your room." Michael replied. Zoey sighed.

"Fine."

"Listen, I know you think that Chase isn't telling you because he doesn't trust you, or maybe just that it seems as if he doesn't trust you because he can't tell you. But its not like that! Chase is being a shy idiot and won't tell you because he's embarrassed. He sent you that text message you apparently never got, and ran off! Just so he wouldn't be there when you read it. Give him time, he'll tell you."

"Why would he act like a "shy idiot"? What exactly is this text message about?" Zoey asked. Michael didn't want to say anything to Zoey about Chase's feelings because he believed that Chase should be the one to tell Zoey, but he could tell her this.

"You."

**A/N:** Well, the finish of this first chapter comes as a welcome because it also means the arrival of new chapters for my other stories. At the moment as I'm typing this I have Time Turner done (one chapter, I mean), Secrets Can Be Deadly almost done, and I'm working on A Marauder's Tale at the moment. I won't upload ANY of the stories until they all have one chapter done, just for this time around, so that its fair considering I got out of my order a bit and can't remember which story I updated last so this is a fresh start.

Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, I'll get a new one out quick, maybe even this weekend yet, and don't forget to review and let me know what you think alright?


	2. Ignoring Chase

**A/N:** Well here is the next chapter, by the way for those wondering, this will likely be a short story although I may decide to add a sequel later. Thanks to those who reviewed, it's the reviews that make me update quicker and inspire me to do so. Anyways, if you're interested, check out some of my other stories as well, depending on what you like.

**Disclaimer:** Zoey 101 isn't mine.

**Hanging By A Moment**

_EilayAdnayVolieay_

Chapter Two: Ignoring Chase

Even after Michael had told Zoey the message Chase had deleted from her Tekmate was from Chase, she continued to ignore him. He was one of her best friends, and whatever he had said about her had obviously been bad enough that he would want to delete it. He didn't trust her, so she refused to trust him. Her ignoring Chase made it very difficult for the other friends to hang out together, because the air was very awkward. Today was no different. The friends were sitting at a table outside eating their lunch. Chase sat down at their table and Zoey immediately stopped talking and began staring at her food as she ate.

"What's up with her?" Chase asked Nicole. Nicole shrugged.

"Why don't you ask her?" Nicole suggested.

"Because she won't talk to me." Chase replied.

"Right... Zoey, Chase wants to know what's up with you," Nicole said.

"Tell Chase that it's none of his business." Zoey said.

"She said its—"

"I _heard _what she said," Chase snapped. He glared at Zoey.

"You know, your being immature Zoey. I'm sorry that you're mad at me, okay? I'm sorry I stole your Tekmate, I'm sorry that I didn't just allow our friendship to be ruined but you know it looks like its ruined anyways. I thought you were mature, at least enough to trust that I'll tell you in my own time. I guess that's too much to ask of you, even after everything that I've done for you. So just forget it, I don't need you as a friend." Chase grabbed his bag and stood up, leaving the lunch area. Zoey looked at Chase's back and glared, but suddenly felt guilty. She hadn't meant to ruin her friendship— she had been stupid to believe that ignoring Chase would make him tell her. Whatever the message had said, it was something he really didn't want her to know. She didn't know why, but she intended to find out. If it wasn't already too late.

"I'm going back to the dorm." Zoey said quietly. She got up and left her lunch, barely eaten. Nicole, Lola, Michael and Logan looked at one another.

"We have GOT to do something!" Nicole exclaimed.

"Yeah, its getting sickening watching Chase mope around the dorm all the time. It makes my Logan time get cut back seriously because he always wants to—" Logan shuddered, "talk."

"Oh, heaven forbid," Lola replied, rolling her eyes.

"I already tried to tell her that the message was about her, and that Chase WOULD tell her in his own time, but..." Michael shrugged. "I guess that didn't work."

"But what can we do?" Lola asked. "I mean, its their fight. If they can't work it out, there isn't much we can do." she pointed out.

"By making them work it out." Logan said.

—

Zoey stopped typing her email to her parents, and sat up. Things hadn't been the same since she had started ignoring Chase. She _was_ mad at him, but she also missed him. She sighed and stared out the window. She saw Nicole, Lola, Michael and Logan still sitting at the table. Maybe she should apologize to them, she thought. After all, it wasn't fair to them that they got dragged in the middle of her fight with Chase. She yawned. _Maybe I'll take a... nap... _ she thought, yawning again. She lied down on her bed, and before she knew it, she had fallen fast asleep.

—

"Do you think that this will work?" Lola asked.

"I hope it does. I'm tired of playing the messenger," Nicole said. She opened the door to their dorm room and saw Zoey asleep on her bed. "I guess we'll have to wait until she wakes up." Nicole said. "Let's go over this one more time, but– lets go to the lounge, in case she wakes up while we're in the middle of discussing the plan." Nicole suggested. Lola nodded.

"Good idea. Which is strange, from you," she added.

"I know!" Nicole replied. They walked down the stairs and entered the girls lounge.

"Okay, so the plans this. The guys are going to tell Chase that Zoey wants to talk to him. If Chase decides he doesn't care and doesn't want to talk to Zoey, they'll suggest going to Sushi Rox. At least, Michael will. Logan says he'll meet him there. Michael will then tell Chase he forgot to grab his wallet, and go back to the dorm. Chase will continue to go to Sushi Rox. If he says he'll talk to her, they'll tell him she wants to meet at Sushi Rox. Then comes our part," Lola replied. "Do you remember what we're supposed to do?" Lola asked. Nicole fell silent.

"Get her to Sushi Rox?" Nicole replied.

"You're guessing, aren't you?" Lola asked, sighing. Nicole nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, I am." Lola rolled her eyes.

"We go to Zoey and tell her that we're tired of her moping around and decided we'd treat her at Sushi Rox to make her feel just a little better."

"Why can't we just tell her that Chase wants to talk to her?" Nicole asked.

"Because Zoey doesn't want to talk to Chase. Even if we said he wanted to tell her what that message said," Lola added when Nicole opened her mouth, "She'd just ask why he had to meet her there and couldn't come to her and say it. So we get her out of here. Now, at exactly nine o'clock, Sushi Rox closes. Meaning we have to get them in there, before nine o'clock without Kazu knowing. He might be okay with staying open longer and leaving them in there alone, but he'd never lock them in and Zoey, maybe even Chase, would never stay in there if they knew that they could get out."

"So how do we get them in there without Kazu knowing?" Nicole asked.

"We already have it arranged. We tell Kazu, before its supposed to close, that the Dean wants to talk to him about something. _But_ he's in the middle of serving customers— Coach will be there and Michael will be at the moment. Then the customers leave and Logan tells them he's locking up but the lights will still be on because he'll be tidying up. Michael leaves and tells Chase then that Zoey wants to talk to him and starts to come back. Logan hides out in the bushes and when both Chase and Zoey are in there he locks them in. Basically, we'll already have the place arranged so they can spend the night there a little comfortable. Sleeping bags and snacks. That will all be hidden away behind the counter and so they won't catch on until we're far away that we locked them there." Lola replied.

"Sounds like a pretty flawless plan, except two things. One, wouldn't we get in trouble with Kazu or more importantly the Dean if we locked them in there, especially against their will? Oh, and two, there's a phone. They could just call and Kazu could come with a spare set of keys to unlock the doors. Wait, three things. When Kazu gets to go meet the Dean, don't you think he'll find it just a little odd that the Dean isn't expecting him?" Nicole asked.

"Ah, but that's worked out as well. We're going to tell Kazu that he's to meet the Dean at the teachers lounge. He'll knock but none of the teachers will be there. We already checked, they have some party just out of town for the night since it's the weekend. So he'll wait there a little while longer, think that at the last minute the Dean had something come up, and he'll go home. The Dean has a lot of things on his mind, he'll just assume that he forgot it. Even if he doesn't, they'll put it past them. If Kazu comes to us, we'll say someone told us that and that we went to deliver the message."

"Well, it might work out up to the point of getting them at Sushi Rox, but what then? Do you really think that getting them stuck there together will help them get over this argument? I mean, they'll just argue, fight over who gets what half of the room, argue again over something else stupid, pick their corners of the room to curl up in, argue some more—"

"Yeah got the point, Nicole. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But we have to try something." Lola said.

—

"You've been moping around here ever since you started ignoring Chase, and we're tired of seeing you like this. That's why we've decided that we're going to treat you at Sushi Rox. You have no choice in the matter, we called ahead and told Kazu to save our regular table and to start cooking up your favourite." Nicole added. Zoey smiled briefly.

"Thanks guys, I do appreciate it, and I'm sorry that I'm being such a pain lately. Hopefully I'll get out of my funk soon, but until then I'm glad you guys are at least behind me even if I am getting on your nerves." Zoey replied. She grabbed her purse.

"We're treating you," Nicole said.

"I know, but I don't have any pockets to carry my cell phone in."

"Leave your cell, come on we'll leave ours too. Put everything on hold except us, and us having fun at Sushi Rox." Lola said. She grabbed Zoey's purse and tossed it on the bed.

"Well... okay. I guess its better, I never know when I'll get a phone call or text message carrying some kind of bad news. Or just something to make me sad." Zoey added.

"Exactly, no sad thoughts." Nicole said. She dragged Zoey out of their dorm.

—

"Zoey wants to talk to me?" Chase asked. He couldn't believe it. She had been so set on ignoring him all because he wouldn't tell her that the text message said he loved her. Could she be willing to forgive him so easily? He hoped so; being friends with Zoey was the closest relationship he'd ever have with her, he was sure. After all, why should she like him? Besides, he was sure that she liked him in the friends that are like brother and sister way. He wanted more, but he'd take what he got.

"She does. She didn't tell us about what, but she seemed more happy. I think she's going to ask you to tell her what the message said and then if you don't tell her she'll tell you that she'll wait for you to tell her. I mean, that seems like her doesn't it? More like the way she was before this Tekmate business happened?" Michael asked. Chase nodded.

"Yeah, that would be a lot more like her old self. I know I should tell her, but... its not as easy as that. Its easy for me to say that I'll tell her, but... well you start liking one of your best friends and try telling them. Its not as easy as it looks," Chase said.

"Logan, oh Logan—" Michael called. Chase raised his eyebrow questioningly and then understood.

"Yeah, that's just creepy. By best friend, Michael, I meant a girl. And if you must pick a guy? Never, ever, pick Logan." Chase said. "That's like... just wrong." Logan glared at Chase but didn't say anything.

"Oh, but he's ever so cute!" Michael said in a high tone, trying to sound like a girl.

"Okay girls don't talk like that." Chase said.

"Nicole does," Michael pointed out. Chase thought for a moment, as though comparing the two voices.

"Its scary how you can actually be right sometimes." Chase said. "So, where does she want to meet me? You said that she wanted to meet me somewhere to talk to me." Chase said.

"At Sushi Rox, 8:30 tonight."

**A/N:** Yeah so I could have included the other part of this, where they're actually AT Sushi Rox, but I decided against it. I'll add that in the next chapter, obviously, and it will probably end with them falling asleep at Sushi Rox so that should give you a general idea of how long it will be (that scene, I mean. The chapter will be either this long, or longer. Likely longer but it will depend). Don't forget to review, and thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad you like the story so far.


	3. Trapped

**A/N:** Well thanks to those who reviewed, glad you liked the story. And yeah I agree with whoever it was that said that Nick didn't really do much with the whole Tekmate thing--- I mean basically it just was forgotten about, and that bites because it really could have made a great storyline. But I guess there's always time for some argument to come up. The worst "argument" they had was basically when they were both running for class president and that was no big deal really. Anyways thanks again to those who reviewed, and here's the chapter for you guys. R & R.

**Disclaimer:** Zoey 101 doesn't belong to me.

**Hanging By A Moment**

_EilayAdnayVolieay_

Chapter Three: Trapped

_Chase arrived at Sushi Rox and looked around. Funny… it was 8:30 already, where was Zoey? Figuring she must have got caught up in something and was just running a little late, Chase didn't worry himself too much over it. After all, it didn't really matter that much if she was late. He was just happy that she was willing to put this aside and talk it over. Perhaps she had decided to forgive him… he hoped so, truly he did, because he missed her. So much. Sighing, Chase looked around again. Funny… he didn't see Kazu either, or anyone really. He looked at his watch. 8:31. Well, it was still only a minute. Chase got up and headed for the washroom._

_---_

"_Oh darn, I forgot my cellphone!" Nicole exclaimed. She ran off and Zoey looked at Lola confused._

"_I thought that we agreed not to bring our cellphones with us?" Zoey replied. Lola shrugged._

"_I think she might like this guy that was supposed to be around our dorm right now… some new delivery guy for Kazu, I think." She added. She grabbed Zoey's arm. "Come on, let's not think about that, let's just head on ahead she'll catch up." Lola added. Zoey shrugged and continued walking to Sushi Rox. She had just entered when Lola shoved her and shut the doors. Okay, so it hadn't worked quite as planned--- Nicole had forgotten that she was supposed to run back and say her hair had gotten frizzy. Lola couldn't say that because it didn't bother her as much as it bothered Nicole, and Zoey hadn't allowed Lola a chance to make a getaway. The lights in Sushi Rox shut off and the door was locked. Zoey began banging on the door and saw Lola looking at her apologetic._

"_Sorry, Zo," she replied softly. "But enough is enough. It's time you guys made up," she added. Her and Logan began walking away--- so it had been LOGAN who locked the door! Zoey vowed that she would get back at him for that later. She pounded on the door helplessly. She sighed and then saw Chase in front of her. Oh no…_

"_They lied…" he replied quietly. So quietly in fact, that Zoey had to strain so that she could hear him. He sat down at one of the tables, and faced the opposite direction of Zoey. He couldn't believe they had done that! Zoey didn't want to talk to him--- she was still angry at him. _

"_I… what do you mean?" Zoey asked. She walked over and sat next to a surprised Chase._

"_Better not sit too close," he replied bitterly finally. "Gee, you might have to actually talk _to me then!" Chase added sarcastically. Zoey punched him in the arm and got up.

"I don't know why I thought I could--- fine, forget it." She replied. She walked over to the counter and saw the sleeping bags on the floor. _Great, just great… they intended for us to be here, ALL night! Stupid, stupid friends!_ She screamed inside her head. Pssht, friends, she didn't need them. All they ever did was stuff like this to her. Well, okay, so that wasn't entirely true… it didn't matter, because Zoey was determined to be mad at her friends right now no matter what they had done for her so far. After all, she was mad. More mad than she had ever been. Just what exactly had they hoped to achieve by getting her and Chase stuck in Sushi Rox for the night?

"What did they tell you was the reason for coming here?" Chase asked suddenly. Zoey didn't look at him.

"They thought I was moping around too much and wanted to cheer me up. Gee, guess they've done such a wonderful job…" she added quietly. Luckily, Chase didn't hear that. Otherwise, he might have gotten angry.

"They told me… that you wanted to talk," Chase replied finally. He walked over behind the counter and grabbed a sleeping bag and laid it out on the ground. Zoey looked at him and Chase felt her gaze and looked up. "What?" he asked.

"Aren't you even going to try to find a way to get out of here?" she asked. Chase shrugged. "You can, if you want. Personally, I don't think they'd go through all the trouble of getting us here if they hadn't thought of everything." Chase replied. He laid down and just stared at the same spot on the ceiling. Maybe, if he stared there long enough, he'd fall asleep with his eyes open… Zoey shook her head and let out a groan of frustration.

"You can be so…." Zoey sighed. "Forget it. Listen, maybe they did think of everything, or maybe they forgot something. I don't want to take the chance that they forgot one small little detail and that we were stuck here all night because we didn't try to search for it."

"Think what you want, but you're on your own." Chase closed his eyes and tried to block out any image of Zoey. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well. Now she was all he could see when his eyes were shut too. _Great…_ he thought. After a few minutes Zoey came over and sat, leaning against the counter. They were trapped here. Then suddenly something Lola had said clicked in.

"Chase…" Zoey asked slowly. He looked over at her, surprised that she was talking to him again.

"Yeah?" he asked. Zoey looked over at him.

"I think the reason they got us both here was to get us to… stop fighting," she replied finally. Chase looked away and said nothing. Fighting? Zoey had been the one who started it--- if she could have forgotten about that stupid Tekmate message, maybe he wouldn't have to start arguing back. She was the one who had decided to ignore him, and he had finally just gotten sick of it. That wasn't exactly his fault, was it?

"Guess that's a lost cause," he said finally.

"Why's that?" Zoey asked.

"Because you aren't going to stop being mad at me until I tell you what that message says. And… I don't think I'll ever tell you." He replied. He got up and walked over to the guys washroom. There, he could get away from her.

Or, at least he could have, if the store was open. Nobody else would go in there, and nobody other than Chase would know she had ever gone in. She followed him, but at least Chase had a stall he could lock himself in. Then, even if he was still forced to talk to Zoey, at least she wouldn't be able to see him anymore.

"Why won't you tell me, Chase? Because it's about me?" Zoey asked.

"What gave you that idea?" Chase asked.

"Michael. He told me it was." Michael… _oh you stupid, stupid… now she's going to think I said something bad about her! No wonder she started ignoring me, I would ignore me too if I got told that. _

"It's nothing… bad. Just… embarrassing. And it could wreck our friendship if you knew," Chase replied. Zoey looked confused, not that Chase could see since he had a stall door between the two of them.

"Don't you trust me to not let it wreck our friendship?" Zoey asked.

"It's not that, Zoey. It's one of those things that no matter who it was it would wreck any friendship. It's something I've kept to myself for awhile… too long, really. I should have told you before we became good friends, because maybe then… it wouldn't have bothered me quite as much. But now, we're best friends. Or at least, we were. And I don't want to ruin that."

"Chase, can't you see that by not trusting me you risk ruining our friendship? Why not get it off your chest, and if it ruins our friendship well guess what that's just where we were headed to before you told me. And maybe it won't, and we'll go back to normal." Zoey replied. Chase leaned against the wall in the stall and sighed. When did things get so complicated? He truly missed the days when he was little, and he didn't believe that he could ever like a girl. At least then, he knew where he stood--- there was no girl to come along and confuse things, because he always knew he'd never like one. At least, at that age.

"It's not that easy, Zoey… I… if I told you, you'd want to talk about it after. And I'd understand that you wanted to, but I wouldn't be ready to. Just telling you alone would shock me, and I'd want to have time alone. I'd be embarrassed after I told you, but you'd want to know and probably wouldn't leave until you got your answers. I know you, Zoey, so I know that's what would happen."

"What if I left, as soon as you told me? I'd go out to the main room, take my sleeping bag and put it in the girls washroom. I'd stay there and you could go get yours and stay here. We wouldn't have to talk, not until you were ready. I could even keep ignoring you until you were ready to talk to me. Please, Chase… I just want you to trust me again," her voice was so sad… how could Chase not tell her? He sighed… he couldn't. At least this way, there was a chance things would blow over. If he told her he had fallen for her, he knew that she would forever find it awkward to be around him and soon there would be no friendship. Perhaps she'd even forget that they had ever been friends… **But what if she liked you, too?** The evil voice in Chase's head questioned. Chase shook his head and leaned against the wall.

"I…" Chase started. He knew this was going to be hard. Was he really going to tell her how he felt? _Yes. _Chase realized. He wanted to--- he couldn't bear keeping a secret like this anymore. Love shouldn't be left unspoken, that was what his mother would tell him. Chase shuddered--- he was about to tell his best friend he was in love with her and he was thinking about his mother? Okay, that was creepy. Chase sighed and tried again.

"I never… I never meant to, you know? It just kind of happened. Before we were friends, I sort of… well it happened. Then we became friends, and things were more complicated. I… Zoey, have you ever heard the song "Hanging By a Moment"?" Chase asked. Zoey, on the other side of the stall, looked confused.

"No… don't you dare change the subject Chase Matthew's!" she added sternly. Chase got out of the stall and ran into the main room. He looked over at the boom box they had and saw the song was on a CD there.

"When I go back in the guys washroom, play this song. It's… it will explain everything." Chase replied. He ran into the bathroom and turned off the lights. He made his way slowly to one of the stalls. If Zoey decided after all to come inside, she'd have to look for the light switch too. Chase sat down on the toilet after flipping the lid down, and sighed. He couldn't believe he had done that. He wondered now if it would be too obvious he was lying if he said "Gotcha!". Probably… he wasn't a very good liar to begin with. He heard the music start and banged his head against the wall. It was going to be a long night…

---

Zoey put on the song and sat down to listen to it. She didn't understand why Chase couldn't just TELL her what it was that he wanted to say… but then again, Chase had never really made much sense. The song started and she made herself comfortable.

(A/N: Below will be the words to the song, just so you know. I'm listening to it and I'm not 100 sure of one verse so I'll skip it. In between each verse and the chorus will be Zoey's thoughts and stuff, just because. _Italics_ will be Zoey's thoughts. Underlined words will be the song. Normal text will be like the story and **bolded** will be the evil voices--- I often use bold for that.)

I'm desperate for changing

I'm starving for truth

I'm closer to where I started

Of chasing after you…

_This song… I think I have heard it before. But… how is this supposed to make me understand exactly what Chase has on his mind? This doesn't exactly tell me what that message said._

I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you…

_Falling… even more in love? Could Chase… does he…_

Forgetting all I'm lacking

Completely incomplete

I'll take you're invitation

You take all of me

_This doesn't make any sense… I… why couldn't Chase just tell me? I already promised him I wouldn't ask him any questions, that I'd just leave him alone. But I don't understand what's going on…_

Now I'm falling even more in love with you

Letting go of all I've held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Zoey listened to the song, every single word. Slowly, she began remembering things--- how eager Chase had been at the thought of kissing her to make the "bad girl" in school think that he and Zoey were going out. The way he had stopped talking when she suggested that they go out on a "fake" date to help Quinn feel better and so Mark wouldn't think it was a date.

I'm falling even more in love with you…

Letting go of all I've held onto

I'm standing here until you make me move

I'm hanging by a moment here with you…

_I… Chase… loves me?_

**A/N:** OH and it's a CLIFFIE! MWAUHAHAHAHAHA! Anyways, there it is, Zoey knows Chase likes her. Yeah, a bit quick, but this story won't be too long anyways. Besides, there will be more afterwards about stuff--- such as, Chase avoiding Zoey after she learns he loves her. Took her a while, didn't it? But I mean if she can go throughout the entire series and not realize Chase likes her, then clearly she's naïve to begin with. Don't forget to review!


	4. Confusion

**A/N:** Well I'm really sorry for the long wait for this update. I took a break on all of my stories except the one, because I didn't have a lot of time to begin with and I was so obsessed with my other story that I just began to work on it entirely and never these other ones. Anyways, this week (its Monday June 19th) is my last week of school, and I have exams. So on Tuesday I won't get to work on this at all, I'll be too busy studying, but the rest of the week I should get to since my other classes I don't have to study for— I mean, PE and a computer class? Puh-leeze. Anyways, please review, I know I dropped off the updating planet for awhile, but I am back and it was mostly school stuff.

**Disclaimer:** Again, not mine.

**Hanging By A Moment**

_EilayAdnayVolieay_

Chapter Four: Confusion

Zoey played the song again, twice. It didn't make sense... how could Chase love her? Was this all some big practical joke he was playing on her?

_No._ She realized. _Chase isn't like that, and... it does make sense. All of it. At least, it explains things. But what doesn't make sense is... WHY he would like me. Now I know why he didn't want to tell me. This is something that could easily ruin any friendship. But... I won't let it. _**Oh really?** The evil voice asked, snickering. **How do you intend to stop it from ruining your friendship? Things will be much more awkward now. **The voice added. Zoey groaned and held her head in her hands, shutting her eyes. _Even so... I promised him, and I won't break that promise. I'll talk to him about it, so we aren't awkward about this._ Zoey decided. She stood up and headed for the guys washroom, then stopped. _Oh boy... this is exactly what Chase said I would do. I guess he knows me better than I thought. Oh, Chase... why did I have to keep asking you what the message said? Now... things might never be the same. _She grabbed her sleeping bag, dragged it into girls washroom, then stopped. She walked to the guys washroom, dragging Chase's sleeping bag.

"I... I brought your sleeping bag, and... good night," she replied finally. She received no response, but she decided that was understandable. She quietly closed the door, and headed back for the girls washroom. Once Chase was sure that she was gone, he left the stall and grabbed the sleeping bag, sighing. Now, Zoey knew. At least she had been true to her word... she hadn't asked him any questions. He was relieved to see that, and he crawled up in his sleeping bag, thinking about how much more confusing things were about to become. No longer could he laugh it off if he did something that would make Zoey think he liked her— after all, now she knew he did. There were no more secrets between the two of them. Part of him wished she was a bit more smart and that she had figured it out on her own. At least then he wouldn't have to embarrass himself by making her listen to what had to be the most mushy song ever. _Zoey... why did I have to tell you? I'm glad there are no secrets, and it feels great to have it off my chest, but... now I'm more confused than ever._ Chase fell asleep, but he tossed and turned throughout the night, dreaming of Zoey rejecting him, dreaming that she told him they couldn't be friends. It wasn't until he dreamt that Zoey was confessing her own feelings for him, and leaning in closer to him for a kiss, that he rested peacefully. When morning came, he would forget he had even had the dream...

—

Nicole tossed and turned as she tried to get comfortable to go to sleep, but she felt guilty. Chase and Zoey were mad at each other, and true, in most cases talking was the best way to resolve things, but maybe it was too soon. Perhaps they'd end up even more mad at each other than ever, or perhaps they'd remain mad at each other, but also at her. _I can't have them mad at me! I don't deal well with people being angry at me, I mean I'm a cheerful person and if people are mad at me, I get sad and if I get sad I look ugly and then nobody wants to talk to me._ Nicole thought. She knew nobody else would want to let Chase and Zoey out of Sushi Rox... she was all alone in this. She grabbed the key, which Lola had taken from Logan, claiming she didn't trust him, and slipped on some flip flops. Then, as quietly as she could, she walked outside to Sushi Rox, and unlocked the door. The lights were off, and there was nobody in the main sitting room. _Shouldn't they be here?_ Nicole thought, looking around. She saw a door open a crack, and pushed it open further. She saw urinals lining up along the wall, and frowned, grossed out. _Ew! I can't believe guys go to the washroom like that... in FRONT of each other!_ She thought. She walked over to Chase, and shook him until he woke.

Chase, believing Zoey had changed her mind and come to tell him that their friendship was ruined forever and that she demanded answers, refused to open his eyes.

"Zoey, I told you, I'm not talking to you. Now that you know how I feel, its too... weird... right now." he replied, turning over. Nicole flicked the end of his nose, and he jumped up, holding it. "Uh, _ow!"_ Chase replied. Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Oh come off it, it didn't hurt that much. And I'm not Zoey, either. So, you told her how you feel?" Nicole asked. Chase backed away quickly.

"I... no, what are you talking about?" he asked, playing stupid. Nicole rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him to a standing position.

"Zoey was the only one who didn't notice you liked her, well okay I didn't notice either until Lola pointed it out to me the first day she was here, but still, Zoey's the only one who didn't know. Are you... blushing?" she asked, noticing Chase's face turn a deep shade of red. He shook his head furiously, but his face turned an even brighter colour.

"N-n-no." he replied. "I, uh... was it that obvious?" he asked, a hint of defeat in his voice. Nicole nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I'm a little slow sometimes but the signs were obvious once they were pointed out to me. Listen, you leave first... but if anyone asks, you guys snuck out through a window or something. The ones in the bathroom don't lock, even though it looks like it, so its not so far-fetched. I'll go get Zoey, and... well, just go." Nicole replied. Chase nodded and ran out of the bathroom, out of Sushi Rox, and towards his dorm. When he saw Logan and Michael, he was going to kill them... both of them, until they were begging for mercy.

Nicole walked into the girls washroom and saw Zoey, sitting and leaning against the wall. She seemed to be lost in a deep thought, or at least, she was far from sleeping. _Poor Zoey... poor Chase. I wonder if Zoey feels the same? I hope she does, they'd make such an adorable couple! Of course, that's if Chase ever talks to Zoey after this. _Nicole thought. Just as she began approaching, Zoey looked up, and glared at her.

"Came finally, did you?" she asked. "I bet you all had a great laugh about this, locking us up in here. Now what, come to rub it in our faces?" Zoey asked. She hugged herself and stared at the floor, determined not to look anywhere near Nicole's face. If she did, she'd likely forgive her in a split second, and she didn't want that. She was determined to remain mad at her and the others if at all possible.

"I felt bad about locking you here. According to Chase, who thought it was you coming in to talk, he told you finally how he felt. How did he... I mean, he's been so nervous about the entire thing for so long. Did he just come out and say it?" Nicole asked. Zoey didn't answer, but instead stood up and walked out of the bathroom. Nicole followed, and Zoey turned on the song Chase had told her to play. Nicole was silent, all the way through it, until it was over and Zoey had turned it off.

"He told me to listen to this song, and not to talk to him, until he came to me again. He said... he needed time alone." Zoey replied. "I... was I the only one who didn't know? Even you knew, Nicole?" she asked. Nicole looked down at the ground and nodded.

"We all knew," she replied. "Chase didn't tell us, or anything," she replied quickly. "We just... figured it out. Well okay I didn't, but it was obvious once Lola pointed out the signs to me. I think its really cute, and it makes sense why he was always so different around you." Nicole added. Zoey looked up.

"He was different around me?" she asked. Nicole nodded, and Zoey sat in one of the chairs at the table. "I didn't even know one of my best friends..." she replied sadly. Nicole shrugged and immediately attempted to cheer her up.

"You knew him, he just didn't tell you that he liked you. That's... different," Nicole replied finally. "I know what would cheer you up— chocolate cake. Let's go eat some cake." she replied. Zoey looked over at Nicole sadly.

"I thought you were banning cake from your diet forever?" Zoey asked. Nicole waved her hand in the air impatiently.

"That doesn't matter, you're sad, so I'll eat cake with you. Come on, we'll eat cake, give Chase some space and before you know it, he'll be acting as if he never told you this." Nicole replied. She grabbed Zoey's hand and dragged her outside.

"But Nicole," Zoey replied suddenly, "it's still really late out. We'll get in trouble for being out of bed past curfew." Nicole grabbed Zoey's arm and dragged her towards the school.

"Not in our dorm, we won't. We still have chocolate cake there that you took from Dustin because he was too hyper for any more. Besides, all the teachers are already in bed, they don't expect anyone to be up now. It's like two in the morning!" Nicole exclaimed. Zoey sighed and followed her up the stairs and she was just about to go into the building when she saw a light on in Chase's dorm, and he was standing at the window staring into space. _Chase..._

Once they were back inside the dorm, Zoey sat down on her bed and stared at a spot on the sheets for several minutes. Nicole finally brought over a piece of chocolate cake, but Zoey just glanced at it and put it down. She walked over to her own window, and stared out at the grounds of PCA. _Chase, how could you like me?_

—

The next morning, Chase was awaken by a shout from Michael and Logan. He sat up in his bed, glaring at them. He remembered how Nicole had told him to say that they had gotten out through the windows. If Michael and Logan didn't believe him, he'd just have to come up with some other lie so that Nicole wouldn't be found out. At least she had felt bad and came back, the rest of them had intended on leaving them in Sushi Rox the entire night if they had to. Chase got up and began grabbing clothes from his drawers. Finally, Logan came over to him, and spoke.

"Hey, Chase... so, uh, where were you last night?" he asked. Chase glared at him.

"In Sushi Rox, which you all know. We had to get out through the windows, which apparently only look like their locked." Chase added. Logan turned to Michael and punched him in the arm.

"I told you they'd figure that out! Why couldn't we have just locked the windows?" Logan asked.

"Because then you can't unlock it, last time they got locked Kazu had to replace the windows," Michael replied, rubbing his now sore arm. "That hurt..." he muttered, glaring at Logan. Logan punched him again.

"Stop whining! So, did you and Zoey at least talk, or was that entirely pointless as well?" Logan asked. At the mention of Zoey's name, Chase stared down at the ground. _Zoey... I told her how I felt. Was I insane? Why did I do that?_ Chase thought. He didn't say anything to Logan or Michael, and walked over to the window. He saw Zoey walking with Nicole and Lola, and she seemed perfectly happy. Not at all confused, the way he was... or was that just an act she had put on?

"Chase?" Michael asked. He walked over and saw Chase looking out the window. He saw Zoey with Nicole and Lola, and realized that something was wrong. "What happened?" Michael asked finally. Chase looked over at him and then returned to looking sadly at Zoey. Logan came over, curious, and crossed his arms.

"Well, are you going to sit there and mope all day or are you going to tell us what happened?" Logan asked impatiently. Chase shook his head, and sat down on a chair, his head in his hands.

"I told her how I felt..." Chase replied finally. "Well, she demanded to know what could be so bad about the message that I wouldn't want to tell her, so I said... it was embarrassing, because it would ruin our friendship. She said that it was almost ruined as it was, so why couldn't I tell her what the message said and save it? I made her promise not to ask me questions or anything, to just let me... go to her. When I'm ready. And..." Chase shook his head sadly at this part. "I made her listen to Hanging By A Moment, I told her it would help her understand..." Chase replied finally. Michael looked shocked.

"You _actually _told her? Good for you! But then, why are you so sad about it?" Michael asked. Logan looked confused.

"Wait, you like Zoey? Dude, STILL! You're a sad, sad person..." Logan replied, shaking his head. He opened their small fridge and grabbed a drink.

"I'm sad about it because our friendship is ruined!" Chase exclaimed. "I mean, she doesn't like me so of course it will be ruined. She promised it wouldn't, but she also promised she wouldn't let the election come between us and it almost did, we both ended up dropping out to save our friendship." Chase added. Michael put a hand on Chase's shoulder, sitting down next to him.

"Listen, you told her not to talk about it with you, so how can you know that she doesn't like you?" Michael asked. "You never gave her a chance to tell you if she did or not, so maybe she does but she respected your wishes to talk later." Chase stood up again, and leaned against the wall, looking out the window.

"If she liked me, she would have talked anyways. Since she doesn't, she doesn't mind not having to talk to me." Chase replied. He turned around and opened the door of their dorm, and ran out. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away. Be by himself.

—

Zoey laughed at some joke that Lola had just told them, and turned her head just in time to see Chase running out of the guys dorm building. She wanted to go over to him, but she knew that if she did, he'd get mad and tell her she had promised not to talk to him about it. _Well, he said for me not to talk about his feelings for me. I can go to him and talk about something else, like a movie or something. I told him this wouldn't ruin our friendship, and it won't._ Zoey told Nicole and Lola she'd meet up with them later, and she ran over to where Chase had sat down.

"Hey Chase," she replied. Chase looked up at her, and stood, and began walking away. Zoey ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she exclaimed.

"Why, so you can talk to me about last night? I told you I wasn't ready to talk about it yet..." Chase replied. He looked away, determined to look anywhere but at Zoey's face. Zoey turned him around to face her.

"You also said you didn't want this whole thing to ruin our friendship, but it seems I'm the only one who's not going to let it. We don't have to talk about last night, but you don't have to avoid me just because of... well... that. Let's go play some Foozeball." Zoey added. She pulled Chase with her, and he couldn't say no. He felt weird, because now Zoey knew how he felt, but he also wanted to keep their friendship, and if that meant hanging out with her, so be it.

After they reached the lounge, they began playing a game. Chase won twice and so did Zoey... now it was just the tie-breaker game left. Finally, Zoey won.

"Oh! Too slow, Chase, too slow!" she told him, laughing. He laughed too.

"Well, I guess I'm just not up to my regular awesome standards today." Chase replied. "I'll win next time," he assured her. Zoey rolled her eyes.

"Sure, and we'll see Logan walk by wearing makeup and with his hair in pigtails." Zoey replied. Just then, Logan ran by, makeup on his face, hair in pigtails, shouting and a hysterically laughing Lola and Nicole ran after him with bags of cosmetics in their hands. Once they left, Zoey shook her head.

"That was weird." Chase replied. Zoey nodded.

"Definitely."

"I'm just going to get a drink, be back in a sec. Want anything?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No thanks," she replied. As he walked away, she couldn't help but watch him. She couldn't deny that he was cute, because she had always known that. _Chase would really be a perfect guy to like... _she thought suddenly. _He's cute, funny, nice, and definitely fun to hang with. Plus he's my bestfriend... who likes me... but do I feel the same? Oh Chase, you're not the only one whose confused... at least, I think you are. After a confession like the one you made last night, you'd have to be. _When Chase came back, Zoey pretended to be interested in something going on outside. She knew that if she looked at Chase, who was now so close, she'd likely end up thinking out loud. She didn't know how she felt about him, and she didn't want him knowing that just yet. She might get his hopes up, just to tell him that she realized she didn't like him.

"What's wrong?" Chase asked finally. Zoey chanced a glance at him, and found that once she had, she couldn't look away. He was staring at her, concern etched across his face. She smiled.

"I... n-nothing." she replied finally. Chase looked at her, confused. _Why is she so... nervous... all of a sudden?_ Chase wondered. _She was fine just a minute ago..._

"Are you okay?" Chase asked her finally. She looked at him, startled.

"What makes you think I'm not?" she asked, her voice no longer shaking.

"You just seemed a little funny a minute ago, that's all." Chase replied. He began to look over at the TV, but turned his gaze back to Zoey when he realized she was still looking at him. "What?" he asked her. She looked away quickly.

"I... ahh, nothing." she replied finally, staring at the ground. "I— I have to g-go meet N-n-nicole and Lola, s-s-so..." Zoey stopped talking and ran out of the lounge. Chase couldn't help but smile. _She's even cuter when she's nervous... _he thought, smiling to himself. _But why is she nervous?_

Meanwhile, outside, Zoey had leaned up against the wall of a building as far away from the lounge as she could get, and tried to catch her breath. _Do I... like Chase?_

**A/N:** Well here's the next chapter, sorry that I didn't update, when I actually had this update ready for some reason the documents wouldn't get uploaded, I finally managed to upload some documents so I could update, so it's all good, lol. Anyways, please review, let me know what you think. Sorry for the cliffie, I wasn't going to leave one, but I basically just decided as a last minute thing to add the "Meanwhile, outside..." part. Anyways, gotta go, I'm listening to Rooney! (A band I recently developed interest in, their like another favourite band now... I love "I'm a Terrible Person," by them because its like, "I'm a horrible person, I read her diary, I'm not to be trusted, I told all of her secrets, to the guys in town, they all laughed and slapped me five," lol... yeah, I'm weird, leave me alone! lol j/k. R&R!


	5. Think It Over

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, I have no excuses lol I just didn't feel like doing this story. Anyway here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it! R&R.

**Disclaimer:** Zoey 101 isn't mine.

**Hanging By A Moment**

_EilayAdnayVolieay_

Chapter Five: Think it over

Zoey walked back into her room and lied down on her bed. What was going on with her? For some strange reason, she felt... well, she had feelings she couldn't explain anymore. _I was staring at Chase! I was actually thinking about why I SHOULD like him! What's gotten into me?_ Zoey thought, frustrated. Chase's confession had done a lot more than get the secret off his chest— it had lead to confusion for both of them. Chase, because he was confused about how Zoey was acting and because he didn't know how their friendship could survive. Zoey was confused because she didn't know why Chase could possibly like her, and she was confused because she was starting to think maybe she had feelings of her own for Chase. _Wouldn't Nicole love to hear that..._

"Wouldn't I love to hear what?" Nicole asked, entering the room. _Oops, _Zoey thought, _I must have thought out loud. _

"Oh, nothing important, but I was hanging out with Chase earlier and it wasn't all that awkward." Zoey lied. She lied about what Nicole would love to hear, and she lied that it hadn't been awkward— it was the most awkward moment of her life, and not because of how Chase felt.

"Ok then..." Nicole replied. She grabbed a drink from the mini fridge and sat down on her bed. When she noticed Zoey sitting on her bed looking tired and thoughtful, she moved over and sat next to her. "Zoey..." she started, "What's wrong? You seem... well, you look like you're feeling down or something. Are you sad? Depressed?" Nicole gasped before continuing, "You're not going to kill yourself are you? Oh Zoey there's so many things in life that are worth living for, and—"

"No, I'm not going to kill myself Nicole, what kind of person do you think I am?" Zoey exclaimed. "I... I'm just really confused right now and it's... giving me a headache," Zoey replied finally.

"Why are you confused?" Nicole asked her. Zoey looked down at the ground and suddenly Nicole gasped.

"Aww! That is so cute!" she exclaimed. Zoey's head shot up.

"What is?" she asked, more confused now than before. Nicole jumped up and faced Zoey.

"You like Chase, don't you?" she screamed excitedly.

"What? No, Nicole... that's not it." Zoey told her quickly. _Oh no, please let me convince her I don't! She might go say something to Chase, and if she does... all I know is if Chase thinks I like him, and then I find out I don't, and I have to tell him... he'll be devastated. I can't do that to him... _Zoey thought. Nicole was still squealing and jumping up and down, so Zoey stood up and covered Nicole's mouth.

"Nicole, listen to me, I... okay, so I might like Chase." Zoey admitted. Regardless of her hand covering Nicole's mouth, her squeals were still loud enough to be heard by half of the girls in the girls dorm building. "But! Wait, Nicole..._but..._ you can't say anything about this, to ANYONE. I'm not sure if I do or not, but if it turns out I don't, and you tell Chase that I do... do you understand what that would do to him?" Zoey asked. Nicole's smile disappeared and she looked suddenly extremely sad.

"Oh." Nicole replied sadly. She sat down on her bed again. "This sucks." She added.

"Yes Nicole, _oh._ Please, you can't tell him, or anyone else that might." Zoey begged. Nicole smiled.

"Okay Zoey, I won't." Nicole promised. Zoey sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Nicole." she told her. "You have no idea what a relief that is," she added.

—

After hanging out with Zoey, despite his confusion, Chase was as happy as he could be. He had been so sure that confessing his feelings would have ruined their friendship, but Zoey had come to him, not to talk about how he felt, but to just hang out as if he had never said anything. _And now our friendship is saved because she knows what that message said! _Chase thought happily. When he walked into his room, he saw that Michael was sitting in a chair watching TV. Seeing Chase walk in, Michael sat up and turned the TV down. Chase ignored this, and grabbed a drink from the fridge before sitting next to Michael on another chair. Silence followed until finally Michael got frustrated.

"So..." Michael replied. "What's put you in such a good mood?" he asked. Chase turned and faced him and shrugged.

"Nothing really," he replied casually. _You'll have to drag it out of me, Michael. _Chase thought. He took a sip of his soda, but spit it out, spraying the TV, when Michael spoke.

"So did Zoey tell you she likes you?" Chase turned and faced him.

"Uh, NO! We just hung out, we didn't even talk about last night. Things are back to normal," Chase added. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." Michael shook his head.

"Come on Chase, talk to her about it! That's great that your friendship survived, but maybe its because she has feelings for you too— and she's respecting your wishes to not talk until your ready. I mean, she might get tired of it eventually but for the moment..." Michael trailed off, smirking.

"Listen Michael, drop it, okay? I'm tired of this, Zoey doesn't like me that way okay? We're just friends, and okay so yeah, I like her as more than that, but she doesn't and I'm not going to push it on her! And even if she does or ever will, she knows how I feel now, so I don't have to go asking her every so often. Are you ever going to just drop it?" Chase asked. Michael was startled at Chase's sudden outburst, but he shrugged.

"Probably not. At least, not until you talk to Zoey about how you feel." Michael added. Chase sighed and glared at him.

"That's what it's going to take, for you to leave me alone?" Chase asked. Michael nodded, grinning. Chase stood up. "Then I guess I have no choice... but to ignore you for the rest of my life!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on, you'll talk to Zoey, we both know it." Michael teased him. Chase rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever, Michael." Chase replied, walking out. When he got in the hallway, he decided he was going to go on top of the building to where they always sat and hung out, so that he could think. The worst was over, at least, Zoey knew how he felt. Now he just had to talk to her about it... but it was easier said than done. When Chase got on top of the roof, he was surprised to see Zoey sitting there, staring into space.

"Zoey?" Zoey looked up and smiled faintly.

"Oh, hey Chase..." she replied quietly. She sat up a bit and waited for Chase to sit down. "So, what's up?" she asked him. Chase raised an eyebrow at her suddenly much higher sounding voice.

"Not much, I guess... are you okay?" he asked her, concern evident in his voice.

"Oh, of course," Zoey told him, waving at the air. "Never been better..." she added unconvincingly. Chase sighed and turned so he was facing her entirely.

"Zoey... listen... I... about last night..." Chase stuttered. _Great, I talk to her perfectly fine every time other than now, and now when I want to talk about what happened, my voice stops working. That's just great, isn't it?_ He thought sarcastically. He saw Zoey had sat up in her seat even further.

"Yeah...?" she asked. Chase sighed.

"Well... I guess now's as good of a time as any to, uh, talk about... it." Chase felt like smacking himself in the head. He sounded like such an idiot!

"Oh." Zoey replied. "R-right..." Chase looked up at her. _Why does she keep seeming so weird now? Maybe... maybe things aren't the same. Maybe she's finding it really awkward. _Chase thought. Zoey turned her head away quickly. _Come on Zoey, get it together!_ She told herself. _He's going to think something's up!_

"So..." Chase replied finally. "I... I don't really have anything to say... I mean, Zoey— I really care about you a lot, you're a really nice person, but... our friendship comes first." Chase told her. Zoey nodded, understanding entirely what he meant.

"Yeah, right..." she replied. "I get that. I... I still don't understand why you could ever like me, but... I guess sometime's it can't be controlled, huh?" she asked him. _Okay, that was lame... _she thought.

"Yeah... I mean, no, it can't... you know, be controlled." Chase replied. Zoey tried not to crack a smile at that, and focused on something else. She was about to say something when all of a sudden Chase spoke up again. "Zoey?" he asked. Zoey turned her gaze to him so that she was looking directly into his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I..." Chase cleared his throat. "Are you okay? I mean, really... you seem nervous." Chase told her. "I... it is awkward, isn't it?" he asked her. "For you, I mean."

"No, its not that... listen Chase, I'm... there's a lot on my mind right now, and I think I might..."

"Zoey... I like you a lot. And... before we can get over this, you need to think over how you feel." Chase replied. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek before going down the stairs into the building again. Zoey felt her cheek with her hand, and felt her face burning. _Think it over._ She thought to herself. _Chase... I... think I like you. _

**A/N:** Well that was a fairly short chapter but a chapter nevertheless and I figured you guys would want one after so long, so here it is. Hope you enjoyed it. R&R.


End file.
